John Proudstar
John Proudstar, also known as Thunderbird, is a mutant who possesses superhuman strength, durability, speed, stamina, heightened senses and foresight. John is also the brother of James Proudstar, the the boyfriend of the late Sonia Simonson and the leader of the Mutant Underground. Biography ''The Gifted A former solider in Afghanistan, John came from a family of soldiers with his father having served in the Gulf War. Shortly after the July 15th Incident John was trying to raise money for the victims of the incident along with other veterans when a group of mutant bigots attempted to kill them by throwing a homemade bomb. John grabbed the bomb and threw it to an empty parking lot saving the lives of those around him. Shortly before the X-Men dissappeared they ask John to form and lead the Mutant Underground much to his reluctance. Joined by Lorna Dane AKA Polaris and recruiting former Cartel enforcer Marcos Diaz they would go on to recruit other Mutants to help them find and save Mutants being targeted by Sentinel Services. An orginization charged with capturing Mutants using their powers. He also started a relationship with Sonia Simpson. He also formed a close friendship with fellow mutant Pulse. When attempting to raid a Sentinel Services relocation center Pulse was seemingly killed while helping the others get away leaving John with tremendous guilt for leaving him behind. eXposed Thunderbird, accompanied by Polaris and Eclipse, used his tracking ability to track down Blink a mutant with the ability to teleport who had escaped from Sentinel Services. Her teleportation abilities however were making it difficult for him to locate her but they eventually found the front of the cop car. John uses it to track Blink to an abandoned building where they are able to convince her to join them. Police soon arrive and while John, Marcos (who is injured from a gunshot) , and Clarice escape Lorna is captured. Thunderbird and Eclipse brought Blink to the Mutant Underground cell house in Atlanta and filled her in on what's happened. As Thunderbird patches up Eclipse they argue about whether they should go rescue Polaris until the news comes in about the incident at the high school, which ends the conversation. With John declaring it is now to hot to attempt such a thing. Later Blink revealed to John that Marcos snuck off to help a family. Thunderbird tells Blink to come along so they can find him. Arriving just in time to rescue Marcos as well as Caitlin, Reed, Andy, and Lauren Strucker from Sentinel Services. As the chase contiunes the group is corned. John encourages Clarice to use her powers to get them out. While Clarice does succeed and is able to get almost everyone through she is soon shot as well as Reed who is left behind. rX John and Marcos proceeded to tend the Clarice wound despite the Struckers insistence that they go back for Reed. After stabilizing Blink Thunderbird and Eclipse argued about Eclipse "freelance job." They argue until Lauren told them there was a problem. Caitlin proceeded to explain to them that Blink was in distress. As a result of her injuries Blink began opening portals. One opened to a road and a truck careened into it and was sliced in half as the portal closed and the back end flew into Headquarters. John and the others moved Blink to a table. However Blink had another attack and opened a portal to the same road. A man pulled a shotgun and pointed it through the portal. However Lauren used her powers to collapse the portal. The group comes up with the plan to take Caitlin to retrieve medicine that can help Blink and to leave Lauren behind to close any more portals that may open up. While Caitlin and Macros are out John tells Lauren and Andy about Blink. How she used her powers to steal food because she could not pass for human and couldn't get a job. Blink suddenly has another attack and the portal to the road opens again, this time a team with police looking through. Lauren manages to close the portal but it noticeably takes significantly longer.John then listened to the police using his heightened senses. He later argued with Sonia about whether they should prepare to evacuate or move Blink away from the hideout. For now, he chose to wait for Marcos and Caitlin. As Blink was getting worse she opened another portal. Lauren tried to shut it down but she was unable to close it. A SWAT team officer then entered through the portal. However Thunderbird used his mutant strength to take him out and toss him back through the portal and Andy used his powers to knock back the SWAT team members but also knocks over the other mutants and tipped the table with Blink on it causing her to hit her head and go into unconscious. Several portals then began opening at the same time causing havoc. Luckily Marcos and Caitlin return but find the portals causing chaos and the mutants trying to evacuate the bank. Caitlin braves the chaos to go inside and manages to give Clarice the medicine she needs. Later when Clarice woke up John asked if she knew why she kept opening a portal to the same road. Clarice however says she doesn't remember but John told her to rest and that they would talk about it later. eXodus Marcos and John were arguing, again, about breaking into the prison to rescue Lorna with Marcos wanting to use Clarice's powers, but John and Caitlin were worried after what she went through after the last time. Sonia backed Marcos and encouraged John to train Clarice. Caitlin stepped in and suggest to them to try to go through legal means, reaching out to loyal or a congressperson. They told her however that it would be too dangerous to expose themselves while they're living in secret. Later Clarice tells John that her powers have been "broken" ever since she got inured along with the mark she got over her eye. John however tells that while her powers are somewhat unreliable that they can work on it and get her powers back. Sonia pulls John aside and asks how things went. John tells Clarice that she's struggling, but Sonia says they don't have time and offers to help by using her powers to implant memories in Clarice, but John reminds her of the times that went wrong and says he doesn't want to take shortcuts. While practicing again John and Clarice talk about her powers some more. Clarice claims she has to be scared to access her powers but John shares some Marine training about simply holding on to something that makes her happy and to focus on that. Clarice tried it and was able to spark a small portal but could only hold it stable for a moment. Johns tracking abilities then kicked in and he noticed and footprints and other signs of the Struckers having left the hideout. John tells Marco and tells him that they have to go after them as If the Struckers are caught, they will a get caught. John and Marcos find Caitlin at her brother Danny's home. They argued and Danny woke up and found them all in the living room. Danny was furious that Caitlin brought mutants into his home as an angry, armed mob is forming outside of Danny's home. With Danny's son having texted a picture of the trophy to a friend and word spread. They all argued about how to handle the situation but Danny decided to go outside himself. Danny argued with the ringleader and tried to convince them to disperse, but the mob was determined to search the house. Andy became angry and blew off the door with his powers. The ringleader, Chuck, picked up his gun to shoot Andy but Thunderbird pulls Andy back and Eclipse heats up the gun so Chuck drops it. They all move towards their SUV and drive off, but the mob jumped in their vehicles and pursued. As the mob opened fire on the SUV. Thunderbird called ahead to the hideout to let Dreamer and Sage know what was happening and prepare to help somehow. Dreamer went to Blink and told her the other are in trouble and to make a portal to transport them back however Blink claimed she would be unable to. With no other choice Dreamer used her mutant power, on Blink, implanting memories of a loving relationship with John. Now having someone to care about, Blink was convinced she could make a portal to rescue the others. Dreamer and Blink went to the road outside to wait for the vehicles to arrive. Blink opened a portal to headquarters in the middle of the road, drawing on her false memories to fuel her power. Thunderbird sped up the SUV and it drove through the portal with Dreamer and Blink following back inside Blink hugged Thunderbird and as he sent her inside then asked Dreamer what she did. Dreamer tells Thunderbird that she gave Blink one of her old memories of them together which angers John as he pointed out the implications but Sonia defended her decision claiming it was the only way to save them. The next day, Caitlin, Marcos, and John met with Danny on a secluded road. Danny offered to let the Struckers use their cabin in the smokey mountains Danny also had learned that Reed was alive and was being transferred to a top secret mutant detention center along with another mutant from the underground. eXit strategy John and Marcos gathered the Underground to announce that Lorna and Reed were being held in a cell at the Sentinel Services regional Headquarters, but that they were being relocated to an ultra secure facility, which John didn't have much knowledge on beyond the fact that the people who go there, don't come back, thus forcing their hand in attacking the Sentinel Services directly. Sage reminded him that they lost six people the last time they went up against Sentinel Services in such a direct manner, and that was merely a relocation center with a fence and a few guard towers. This time around they wanted to infiltrate a prison whose systems had improved. Extrapolating from other attacks, the Underground had an 86.5% chance of failure, Sage determined. Even though they were new to the Underground, and no one owed them anything, Caitlin pleaded with them to assist. Marcos reminded everyone in the room that Lorna had saved each of them at least once. However, only Sonya, Harry, and Clarice were willing to join in on the coordinate attack on Sentinel Services. In the monitoring cell, Marcos was reasonably upset with the fact that only five people (John, Sonia, Marcos, Clarice, and Harry) were willing to help save Lorna. John on the other hand was a bit more understanding given that a lot of them lost friends the last time they attacked Sentinel Services. Caitlin corrected Marcos, saying that it was six them of them against the Sentinel Services considering that she would be joining. The six of them began to strategize on how best to infiltrate the building. Clarice's portals and Harry's cloaking abilities would do them little good. However, Caitlin suggested that rather than going into the building, they rescue Lorna and Reed while they're in route to be relocated. Fortunately, Marcos could gain intel on the route from the Cartel. However, John was very much against him going to them for a favor because the last time Marcos got involved with the Cartel, he barely got out. John later approached Sonia to ask if she had talked with Clarice about manipulating her memories. Sonia admitted that she hadn't, as she didn't believe she needed to as Clarice seemed fine. John reminded Sonia that giving Clarice a memory that wasn't hers and without her permission was wrong, though Sonia countered that it was less a memory, and more of a dream or an impression that'll fade on its own, John however wasn't convinced that it would and tried to give the ultimatum that either Sonia would tell Clarice the truth herself or he would. But as Sonia pointed out, neither of them knew how Clarice would react to being violated in such a personal manner and pointed out she could be upset enough to leave, which would halt their plans on saving Lorna and Reed. Sonia explained that she didn't have a choice, as she wasn't going to allow John to die. Before walking off, Sonya reminded him that they were fighting a war, which entailed casualties of all kind. Later that night, John got a call from Marcos, who had gotten in touch with the Cartel. After making some calls to their contacts at Sentinel Services, they learned that Lorna and Reed were being moved by truck. It was a convoy that Marcos would later send him the route to. He then learned that Marcos was dealing with his ex-girlfriend,Carmen Guerra, who had taken over for her father, the former Cartel leader. The next morning, in the monitoring cell, John updated the rest of the team on what Marcos had discovered. There was a convoy of military vehicles that were taking Lorna and Reed to a military airport. Based on the route, which Marcos had given them from the Cartel, the best place to hit the convoy would be at an old warehouse district off Peach tree. John asked Clarice if she could open a portal to get the two of them onto the transport bus. If the driver could see out, then Clarice could see in, but if the bus was moving, it could become a lot more complicated, she explained, which meant they had to stop the bus. While Marcos was working on the time frame, they needed to devise a plan on how best to stop the moving bus. Caitlin pointed out that melting the tires with lasers was hardly subtle, and a battle would surely ensue if they did. Their goal was to get in and out without dropping bodies. While they were working on a plan to disengage the bus without arousing suspicion, Andy and Lauren had devised a plan of their own by combining their abilities. Lauren could use her ability as an element of precision and focus to Andy's destructive powers, which in turn allowed them to tear objects apart with great accuracy. John was impressed after watching them perform this combined ability on the tire of a broken down taxi, asking if they could do it from a longer range, which they could. However, Caitlin was against using her children as soldiers to attack a convoy. As John attempted to explain, with time running short, they didn't have many alternatives. John and Andy then stood back while Lauren convinced her mother to allow them to fight, as it was what she had always taught them to do. After a persuasive speech from Lauren, Caitlin agreed to allow them to stop the transport bus, but only if John could guarantee her that Andy and Lauren wouldn't be in harms way. With Marcos' return to Headquarters, John learned that the prison convoy left at 10:00 a.m. the following day. They would sweep the route at 9:30, giving them half an hour window to set up. How did it go with Carmen, John asked. Marcos claimed it was fine, and that he did what he had to do, but John was greatly concerned given that he didn't want to see Marcos get caught back up with the Cartel. Afterward, while drawing up plans for the attack on the prison convoy, he was approached by Sonia. The next day, the team got in place at their designated position within the warehouse district. Thunderbird was partnered with Blink. He told her that the convoy would be coming down the road soon, and from where they were positioned, it should be a straight shot into the bus. He asked Blink if she was alright. She claimed she wasn't sleeping well. Thunderbird reasoned that this was due to the adjustments at the station, with people constantly coming and going. Anything's better than jail, she remarked. As for Thunderbird, it was almost impossible for him in the beginning, which came as a surprise to Blink due to his military background. He explained that originally, it was just him and Polaris with an impossible task. Blink then asked if he ever thought about walking away. All the time, Thunderbird replied. The only thing stopping him was his mission in saving those in need. Blink then asked about the night that they first met, wondering if they went outside together. Thunderbird told her that they hadn't, though he knew this to be a result of Sonia‘s memory manipulation. Thunderbird and Blink prepared themselves as the convoy entered the warehouse district. They waited for Andy and Lauren to disengage the bus' tire at the designated location, though they failed to do so. While they did eventually manage to stop the bus, it wasn't at the location in which Thunderbird had planned, forcing him and Blink to go looking for it. After ramming his way through a solid wall, he found the bus a little further down the road. Just as Blink planned to portal them into the bus, her powers were being interfered with, as was Thunderbird's, who attempting to track. There was only one person he had ever know who could disrupt mutant abilities; Pulse. Though, he died two years ago, or so they thought. Thunderbird looked out the window, and as he had suspected, it was Pulse, who was also working for Sentinel Services, and disrupting their abilities, which he was capable of doing for at least two blocks. John then instructed Clarice to check in on the others while he stopped Pulse. After dealing with Pulse, Thunderbird found Eclipse hidden behind a car. He told Eclipse that he would explain the nose bleed later, which was unusual given his physical invulnerability, but for the time being, they needed to leave because Sentinel Services likely had reinforcement on the way. But Eclipse refused to go without Polaris. Fortunately, she no longer needed rescuing. With Pulse out of commission, Polaris was with full use of her abilities, breaking down the bus door and escaping on her own, with Reed in tow. Upon exiting the bus, the Sentinel Services agents began shooting. Polaris stopped the bullets mid-air, sending the gunfire back into their direction, before taking their guns, and forcing them to retreat. Thunderbird and Eclipse then greeted Reed and Polaris. With Caitlin pulling up moments later, the four of them got inside, and sped off. boXed in ''To be added ''got your siX ''To be added ''eXtreme measures ''To be added ''threat of eXtinction ''To be added ''outfoX ''To be added ''eXploited ''To be added ''3 X 1 ''To be added ''eXtraction ''To be added ''X-Roads ''To be added Character traits To be added Powers and Abilities Powers *'Mutant Physiology:' Thunderbird is a very powerful mutant who possesses superhuman strength, durability, speed, stamina, heightened senses and foresight. **'Superhuman Strength:' Thunderbird possesses far more strength than a normal human; to the point that he can break metal chains and crush concrete relatively easily. **'Superhuman Durability:' Thunderbird possesses far more durability than a normal human. **'Superhuman Speed:' Thunderbird possesses far more speed than a normal human. **'Superhuman Stamina:' Thunderbird possesses far more stamina than a normal human. **'Superhuman Senses:' Thunderbird possesses far more senses than a normal human; to the point that he can see at greater distance, in the dark and even thermal signatures. He can hear with amazing clarity, at greater distance, and even frequencies outside normal range. Thunderbird's sense of smell is also greatly enhanced allowing him to track subjects miles away. Even his sense of touch is enhanced allowing him to feel vibrations through the ground and identify them. **'Precognition:' Thunderbird can foresee certain events before they happen. He can also see glimpses of the recent past and near future when focusing on a specific location or individual. Abilities *'Expert Tracker:' Due to his superhuman senses, John is a highly skilled tracker. *'Skilled Hand-To-Hand Combatant:' As a former soldier, John is skilled in hand-to-hand combat; as he easily defeated a police officer with only one hand, his fighting skills combined with his superhuman physical attributes, makes John a formidable opponent alone in single combat; even without his superhuman physical attributes, he is still a capable unarmed fighter. Relationships *James Proudstar/Warpath - Brother. *Mutant Underground **Marcos Díaz/Eclipse - Close friend and teammate. **Lorna Dane/Polaris - Teammate. **Sonia Simonson/Beautiful Dreamer - Girlfriend and teammate; deceased. **Augustus/Pulse - Close friend and teammate, turned unwilling enemy; deceased. *Hellfire Club **Esme Frost - Former teammate. **Phoebe Frost - Former teammate. **Sophie Frost - Former teammate. **Lorna Dane/Polaris - Former teammate. **Tex/Fade - Former teammate. **Pedro - Former teammate. **Sage - Former teammate. **Andy Strucker - Former teammate. Appearances/Actors *Canon (1 TV series) **''The Gifted'' - Blair Redford ***''eXposed'' (First appearance) ***''rX'' ***''eXodus'' ***''eXit strategy'' ***''boXed in'' ***''got your siX'' ***''eXtreme measures'' ***''threat of eXtinction'' ***''outfoX'' ***''eXploited'' ***''3 X 1'' ***''eXtraction'' ***''X-Roads'' Trivia *In the comics, Thunderbird is the brother of Warpath; Warpath has the same powers as his brother, but to a much greater degree. *Thunderbird is known for being killed off shortly after his introduction in the comics. Gallery ''The Gifted'' To be added Category:X-Men characters Category:The Gifted characters Category:Mutant Underground members Category:Heroes Category:Mutants Category:Characters with Super Strength Category:Characters with Super Speed Category:Characters with Invulnerability Category:Characters with Animal-like powers